1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to coded visual information systems. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to two-dimensional coded visual information systems for associating information about items with unique two-dimensional coded visual information marks.
2. Background Information
One-dimensional coded visual information systems such as bar code systems are used to mark products with unique values for subsequent identification. An example of a bar code system is a universal product code (UPC) system. Bar codes are series of vertical bars of different widths arranged in parallel. The width of a bar evidences the value of the bar, and a bar code reader can read values of a series of sequential vertical bars of different widths arranged in parallel by scanning the series of vertical bars. The value read by a bar code reader can be associated with information such as a product identification and price via a centralized database.
Two-dimensional systems have also been developed, and these so-called quick response (QR) codes are intended to allow content of a two-dimensional code to be decoded visually at high speed. As with the one-dimensional systems, the content of a two-dimensional code may be a unique value assigned to mark products with unique values for subsequent identification. The value read by a QR code reader can be then associated with information such as a product identification and price.
QR codes have advanced so far that they are now used to identify text, such as addresses and uniform resource locators (URLs). Such QR codes can be placed as visual advertising or as a marker to identify a particular object. Camera phones equipped with reader software can recognize an image of a QR code and, upon recognition, a browser on the camera phone may be launched and directed to a uniform resource locator pointed to by the QR code. The linkage between a uniform resource locator and a two-dimensional code used to mark a physical object has come to be known as a hardlink.